What Happened to the Electric Car

The Subaru R1E
Subaru's parent company, Fuji Heavy Industries (FHI), has announced that the R1e electric vehicle will begin silently rolling off dealer lots come 2009, which is a year ahead of schedule. With lithium-ion batteries developed by the Tokyo Electric Power Company, the R1e will have a 50-mile range and a 62-MPH top speed. While the 'range isn't too impressive -- although plenty for typical urban commuting, and it will certainly increase -- the car can be 80-percent recharged in just 8 minutes.

The Japanese Eliica
The Keio Advanced Zero-Emmision Vehicle (KAS) has surfaced with a second-generation model named the Eliica, which stands for electric lithium-ion car. Developed by a team at Keio University headed by Professor Hiroshi Shimizu, the Eliica has four axles with eight wheels. No reason for the extra set of axles is given, though perhaps they're needed when the vehicle is traveling at its top speed of 230 mph, which actually was reached one day last year at the Nardo in Italy. The Eliica takes 10 hours to charge and will travel 125 miles on a charge. It can accelerate to 62 mph in 4.1 seconds, after which we imaging you'd need to recharge it again. The team's goal is beat the top speed of the Bugatti Veyron and produce 200 units of the Eliica for people like George Clooney and that ex-Baywatch babe who still drives an EV1.

The GM Volt
The Concept Chevy Volt. It’s unlike any previous EV (electric vehicle), thanks to its innovative rechargeable electric drive system and range-extending power source. It can be configured to run on electricity, gasoline, E85 or biodiesel. So you have at least a couple of options for the most efficient drive — all made possible by GM’s innovative E-Flex Propulsion System.

The Brazilian OBVIO
Progress is steadily being made to bring the Brazilian-based OBVIO! mini cars to the U.S. through ZAP. The California-based automobile distributor that brought us the SMART fortwo before DaimlerChrysler itself has already prepurchased 50,000 units.

The first model year will be comprised of the 828 and 012 models with flex-fuel engines that can run on 100-percent ethanol, 100-percent gasoline or a combination of both. The Tritec 1.6L four-cylinder motor is mated to a CVT and will reportedly produce 115 horsepower and 149 ft-lbs. of torque while delivering 29.4 mpg city and 40.69 mpg highway running on ethanol. Fuel economy should improve by 10 percent using gasoline, according to OBVIO!. The target price for U.S. consumption of the 828 is $14,000 and the 012E $28,000.